This turbulence was incessant, and as they slowly sank and the hours passed, the awful grandeur made the necessary sleep seem almost a waste of time, for every mile they descended brought fresh wonders which it was felt almost a crime to miss. Frequently, as they were leaving to retire to their cabins, the spectacular display around them would be so amazing, that tired as they were, they would remain at the windows entranced, as perhaps a gigantic flame would mount higher and higher, licking a cloud like a huge tongue, and at the touch, the sea of cloud would be blown to ribbons which stretched in all directions, waving about in the terrible reek in millions of ragged tendrils, which darted away till lost in the distant flames, their long, tape-like feelers in constant motion as the heat twisted them, like a giant octopus being roasted alive and writhing in agony. For hours this would continue, till the watchers would turn away, reluctant to leave it, and seek their long-desired rest, impatient that nature had made it necessary for Earth-life to take systematic and regular repose. At other times the clouds would burst and disgorge their contents in floods of fire, awful to contemplate as they poured downwards like water, making broad bands of flame connecting the two strata—the rolling sea of cloud-fire above with that of the furnace beneath. This is, without doubt, what is seen from Earth and there discussed as “stems, which, though they appear thin and pencilled, are of enormous substance, connect the clouds with the chromosphere,” and which are seen to last sometimes for several days, so great is the quantity disgorged. In addition to these the travellers saw the eruptive portions known on Earth as ‘flames,’ which were not only ruptured and changed from the gases below, but themselves became eruptive, causing violent changes to take place every few minutes, at times projecting dense masses of lava-like substances high aloft, and masses of dark but brilliant oily material like half-cooled metal; at other times their cavernous depths were comparatively shaded by the clouds and by their own immensity, and corresponded to the ‘spots’ seen from Earth. There are also immense clouds of hydrogen, similar to Earth-clouds, forming, dispersing, and exploding continuously above and amongst these ‘flames,’ and the matter, liquid, solid, and gaseous, ejected from these ‘flames’ is inconceivable. In shape the ‘corona’ spreads far and wide in all directions in wondrous variety both of form and colour, the ‘rays’ extending like a ‘glory,’ inexpressible in grandeur and magnificence. There is no real or definite line of demarcation between the ‘corona’ and the ‘flames,’ for, in some cases, the flames reach upwards and spread outwards like a gaseous envelope and form the base of the corona, whilst in others, the corona becomes part of the actual substance and shape of the tongues of eruptive fire which are designated ‘flames.’